![Chemical purity is a crucial parameter for battery-grade materials. Argonne chemist Kris Pupek loads a sample onto a high-performance liquid chromatography instrument in the Materials Engineering Research Facility’s process research and development lab. This instrument separates and analyzes the components of a sample to measure and identify impurities. Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory. 30147D19](https://sandbox4-www.anl.gov/sites/www/files/styles/article_teaser_16x9/public/2018-06/file8m0VQ9_MERF5.jpg?h=78975078&itok=urE4A5ix)
- Reduced waste process for the extraction of cellulose nanocrystals from Miscanthus x. Giganteus (ANL-IN-18-002)
Cellulose Nanocrystals are of considerable interest for a number of industrial applications, but commercial adoption has been impeded by the high cost of producing them at scale.
This invention is a scalable process for the production of CNCs at industrial scale, with a significant reduction in capital and operating expenses over current alternatives. This novel process is optimized for the use with high-consistency pulp, is intensified, and incorporates resonant acoustic mixing.
The invention represents the first industrial-scale process for the production of CNCs from biomass and the first use of combined bleach generation, bleaching, and hydrolysis steps.
The invention embodies the method of mixing in a single reaction vessel a cellulose pulp, an acidic solution; and sodium chlorite, wherein the sodium chlorite reacts to form a bleaching agent, chlorine dioxide, wherein bleaching and acid hydrolysis of the cellulose pulp occurs in the single reaction vessel. Additionally, the invention embodies the method of mixing with a resonant acoustic mixer a high consistency cellulose pulp with an acidic solution in a reaction vessel. Related methods, compositions, and articles of manufacture are also covered in this invention.